Modern Vespa

Now that I have a shiny new Dragon Red GTS, I noticed that my old electric blue Nolan helmet just doesn't look right anymore, so I decided to give it a new paint job. Since the lining is removable, I removed it to save masking it out and also to give it a much needed wash. I then saw that some of the black plastic parts were bolted on to the shell, so I started unscrewing them until, before I knew it, my helmet lay in pieces in front of me! Almost every part of the helmet either unscrews or unsnaps and the design and workmanship in the hinging mechanism is most impressive. I only hope that I can remember how to put it all back together once it's painted! What color? Red, of course, with some sort of trim, which I haven't decided on yet, but probably a checkered stripe again, because I'll no doubt want to do something like that on the scooter eventually. Now to get busy sanding!

Cheers,

Bob

Holy shmoly! That's a lot of parts. Good luck putting it back together.

Be very careful sanding, I'd only scuff the finish. These things are designed with their protection/weight trade off mighty fine and any material loss on the shell during surface prep will compromise the impact resistance!!!

If you're going to do this, make sure it's extra special! (no pressure! )

That's quite a project. I have a red Nolan N100 (a now discontinued color, and I regret not buying a second had I known!) my only advice is to make certain the paint is chemically compatible with the helmet materials and doesn't compromise it's strength. Keep us posted....Nolan is a great bucket, and RED is a great color! Good luck.

Thanks, guys, for the replies and the concern. I appreciate your advice, all of it good. Fortunately, I have painted a few helmets in the distant past and so I have taken care not to sand too much and I'm using water-based Creative Auto-Air paint which is quite safe on the Lexan shell. So far, I have sprayed on a white base coat, followed by a silver swatch down the center where the checkered panel will eventually go. Tomorrow I will mask this out and spray the rest red and then take it from there. This is how it looks now:

Cheers,

Bob

That looks real nice. How does the waterbased paint differ in application technique, durability, etc., from solvent (?) based paints? Looks and sounds like you know what you're doing, but I'm curious about the water-based paints (Al Gore Thanks You for that, though!)

Matt,
The application of the water-based paints is the same as the polyurethene types, but they are a lot less toxic and of course, cheaper and easier to clean up! For durability, the final clear top-coat should be done with a polyurethene type coating. This really brings out the shine and color of the water-based colors. Unfortunately, I don't have any at the moment and it's very expensive, so I'll probably either use an oil-based clear enamel that I have, or take the helmet to a auto paint shop and have them do the final coat. I'd prefer to do the whole job myself though, so I'm not sure yet.

Cheers,

Bob

Here's a link to the paint I'm using:

http://www.autoaircolors.com/index.htm


Cheers,

Bob

Here's an update on my helmet facelift. Once I had the red done, I decided to have white, rather than silver for part of the checkers, so I repainted the stripe down the middle. When that dried I masked out the area and proceeded in much the same way as I did for the checkers on my GT. (See earlier thread). After a light sanding, the helmet was ready for the final clearcoat. A local auto paint dealer had just what I was looking for - clear polyurethane in a spray can. At $18, it wasn't cheap, but a lot cheaper than buying the stuff in a pint can, which would also require the necessary thinners. I don't usually like using spray cans, but this really worked well and I was pleased with the result.
Now everthing is drying and I'm patiently waiting before carrying out the last step - putting it all back together!

Cheers,

Bob

Nice work Burgerbob! I think Sir Jess would love a helmet like that . . .



Mel

Very nice, I'm quite impressed. Well worth your effort.

Awesome! I personally would have stopped at the satin look, but the shiny is pretty slick.

That is freakin' hot!

Very nice! That's hot.

Bob that looks awesome, great job.

Thanks guys, I actually got it back together without too much difficulty, which surprised me!

Here it is:

Very nice.

You will be seen in thet color.

R

8)

Very nice.

Its do-it-yourself projects like this that makes me wish I lived in a house and not an apartment. I'd really like a garage space to work on projects like that.

It's perfect.

That's one hot helmet.

Very Very nice,

Now I have to see if the Mrs wants to get one of these. I obtained one at a screaming deal last week - I quite like the function and fit - although it's a bit loud.....

Really nice. Thanks for showing all the steps; now I can get after one of my helmets. If mine can look half as good as your helmet, I'll be satisfied. 8)

Thanks again for the encouragement. Actually, it has what I call a 6 foot finish, which means it looks OK from 6 feet away!

Cheers,

Bob

Great work!

Wow that does look great!

Very nice looking, professional job.